Sculpture with remnants of World Trade Center marks Connecticut 9/11 memorial service (slideshow)

Christopher Gardner, 13, of Darien, sits near his father's name during a memorial service Thursday at Sherwood Island State Park, home of the 9/11 Living Memorial. Christopher's father, Christopher Samuel Gardner, died in the attacks. Peter Casolino/Register

Emma Hunt, 11, of Essex, remembers her father, William Christopher Hunt, during a memorial service Thursday at Sherwood Island State Park, home of the 9/11 Living Memorial. Peter Casolino/Register

WESTPORT -- Just days before the 10th anniversary of 9/11, some who lost loved ones in the terror attacks say this year is just like any other: filled with an unquenchable, heavy sadness.

But the anniversary drew new visitors to the annual Sept. 11 memorial service at Sherwood Island State Park Thursday. The park, which overlooks Long Island Sound and on clear days has views of the Manhattan skyline, is home to Connecticut's 9/11 Living Memorial.

More than 400 people attended the official state 9/11 service, many of them locals whose loved ones died in the attacks. New this year was a sculpture made of burned and punctured aluminum pieces from the World Trade Center and a nameplate listing 153 Connecticut people who died in the attack.

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Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said the tragedies of Sept. 11, 2001, changed the state and the nation forever, and on this anniversary, he asked people to honor and cherish the lives lost in the attacks and in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We are a stronger nation as a result of the sacrifices made on that day and in the two wars that have transpired since that time, claiming another 60 citizens, sons and daughters of Connecticut," he said.

Malloy said the ceremony was "about remembering the lives of those individuals who were lost that day and the sacrifices of those who responded on that day."

Kimberly Statkevicus, now of North Carolina, had a young son and was pregnant with another when her husband died in the World Trade Center. She brought her sons to the Sherwood Island ceremony to get a feeling for the tragedy not available in places far from New York. It was the first time the boys attended a 9/11 service.

"With it being the 10th anniversary and they are 9 and 11, so they will be able to better understand it now," she said.

Peggy Barthold, who lost two friends in the attack, saw the sculpture for the first time and called it "absolutely spectacular."

She and her family, of Darien, attend the service every year, but this was the first time she brought her son and daughter.

"It's very hard. It all comes rushing back and it never goes away.

"You'd think it would get easier, but in some ways it doesn't," she said.

Barthold held a white rose, one of the hundreds that were given to victims' families and friends, who later laid the flowers by their loved ones' names at the memorial. Funds to buy the flowers were raised by students at the Classical Studies Academy in Bridgeport. American Red Cross volunteers gave tissues to all who needed them during the emotional tribute.

Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman, who led the ceremony, said it is hard to believe 10 years have passed since the attacks. She said for families touched by the tragedy, "Sept. 11 is not a day to be remembered once a year.

"You live the horror of that day, every day of every year," Wyman said.

The ceremony included interfaith prayers, a reading of the names of state victims, the playing of taps and a reading by state poet laureate Dick Allen. There were musical selections by the Coast Guard Cadet Chorale and Tony Harrington. State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Daniel Esty also spoke, and former Gov. M. Jodi Rell and her husband attended.

The new sculpture, "Sanctuary," was designed by local artists David Boyajian and Matt Rink. It is a series of flowers.

Rink described the "blossoms" as unafraid to show their scars, and said they are meant to convey a theme of regrowth.

"The markings, creases, tears and punctures are extremely humbling and very significant," he said.

The sculpture was commissioned by the state, and the design was chosen from more than 100 entries.

After the ceremony, Malloy and Wyman led a procession down a flag-lined walk to the Living Memorial, where people laid the flowers.

Family of Timothy John "T.J." Hargrave placed roses and a bag of M&M's, his favorite candy, by the stone with his name on it. His mother, Kathryn Hargrave of New Jersey, recalled times when her son was a child and ran around the house playing. She said Sept. 11 is a tough day for the family.